Watch Yourself in the Dark
by Surflilu246
Summary: Things between Sora and a certain boy start heating up, that is, until she's mysteriously taken from her home. How far will people go to save the ones they love? More importantly, how far can one be pushed before they no longer want to be saved?
1. Dinner Plans

_Running, running, running. The woman panted as she dodged tree after tree and hopped over root after root. How had she even gotten here? The footsteps following her became quieter and quieter until they ceased to exist, however, the young woman kept running. All was dark in front of her. The sky was covered by rotting trees and hard, crunching leaves. She stopped. To run was useless. She'd end up deeper in the woods then she was before. The other option though, didn't seem any better. To run would leave her lost and alone. To be caught would leave her with an unsure future. The footsteps behind her were coming close again. The woman brushed the sweat from her forhead and flicked the stray hairs from her face. She stood up straight, turned around, and faced her chaser, eye to eye._

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Tai Kamiya ran out the school doors as soon as the bell rang. Finally, he could breathe the fresh, outdoors air. He paused near the front gates to search for his sister with whom he walked home everyday. Standing on his tiptoes, he searched the crowd. He saw his spiky, blonde-haired best friend without his own sibling, which only meant one thing.

"KARI!" Tai shouted as loud as he could. The blonde boy, Matt, spun around and looked at him.

"Missing yours as well?" He asked.

"Yeah.. suppose she's with T.K?" Tai joked.

"Where else?" Matt laughed as the boys went off to find them.

They pushed their way through the crowds of people until they came to the fountain in the middle of the yard. There, two kids, about 3 years younger then their brothers, sat playing in the water.

"Kari! T.K! Is it everyday? Everyday must you make me late to my beloved couch and television?!" Tai half smiled and yelled.

"Don't be jealous, Tai." Kari retorted, sticking her tongue out at him.

Matt turned and looked at his brother. "T.K, come on, Dad's going to be wondering where we are."

"Would he even notice? He's probably still at the station anyways.." The younger blonde replied.

"Doesn't matter" Matt said, getting a little fed up. "Come on" He turned to Kari. "You can come over for dinner later, if you'd like."

"And what would you be having?" Tai jumped in, throwing his arm over Matt's shoulders. "Steak? Rice? Chicken? All of the above?"

Matt laughed. "I suppose you can come too, Tai."

Kari smiled at T.K and gave him one last kiss before they departed. Tai could hear Matt mumbling to T.K as he walked away. He turned to his own sister, prepared to give another speech about how he didn't like seeing her with boys. However, before he could begin, Kari put her hand over his mouth.

"Quick!" Kari whispered "Close your mouth before you drool!" She pointed to a group of tall, thin girls crossing the road.

Tai pushed her hand away. "Come on now, I know you just didnt want to hear me talk."

"Maybe." Kari laughed to herself.

However, in that group of girls, one inparticular stood out to the brunette. Sora Takenouchi stood in the middle of the pack, carrying her tennis racket under her arm. She saw him and gave a quick wave before she turned the corner.

"Hey..." Tai muttered to himself, waving to no one, really, as Sora was already gone.

Kari and Tai walked the rest of the way home in silence. Tai unlocked their apartment door and walked in, collapsing on the couch. He fumbled around for a bit, looking for the remote. When he found it, he turned on the television and put on his favorite show.

"Would you look at that Kari, it already started." Tai grumbled at his sister.

"It'll be okay Tai, it'll be okay" She said while walking into her room.

What was she going to wear tonight? She needed to find something nice, but it seemed like most of her clothes still needed to be washed.

"MOOOOOOMMMMMM!" Kari yelled. When she got no response, she yelled it again.

"Kari, be quiet!" Tai shouted back, annoyed.

"Do you know where Mom is?"

Tai rolled his eyes. "Do I look like I know where mom is?"

Kari peeked out her door only to see her brother thrown across the couch with an open soda in his hands and a cupcake stuffed into his mouth. "Guess not" She laughed, and returned to her closet. Eventually, she picked out some jeans and a plain white top. She put it on and threw some chunky gold jewlery over it. She finalized her look with a bit of eyeliner and some blush.

'I suppose I look alright' She thought to herself. She couldn't help but chuckle though when she thought about what her brother would say. With that in mind, she walked out into the main room and stood in front of the television.

"Kari what are you do-WHAT are you wearing?"

"Clothes.. Makeup.." Kari replied innocently.

"Why do you look like you're 20 years old when you're only 14? Do you know how much harder this makes scaring all the boys away from you?"

"You shouldn't be doing that anyways!" Kari scoffed. "I can handle myself. Besides, I have T.K. And you're not much older then me. What, are you turning 18 in a week?"

"But I'm your brother! Your favorite brother!" Tai jumped up and attempted to mess up her hair.

Kari pushed him away. 'You're my only brother." She giggled as she got a full view of him. "Aren't you going to get ready? It's already 4:30 and we should get there by at least 5."

Tai glanced down at himself. He brushed the crumbs off his shirt and whiped some icing from his mouth. "Ready!" he cheered and smiled.

Kari rolled her eyes as they both walked out the door.

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Dinner was almost ready at the Ishida residance. One could smell the scent of roasting chicken and gravy-covered mashed potatoes from down the road. That one, happenned to be Tai Kamiya. The doorbell rang and Matt got up to answer it. He looked through the peephole of his comfortable apartment only to see two brunettes standing in the walkway. Tai raised his eye to the hole as well. "Let us in! I smell chicken!" Matt laughed and opened the door.

"Well you look lovely" T.K eyed Kari from down the hall

'As do you..." Matt raised his brows at Tai.

T.K and Kari went and sat in the living room as Matt and Tai made their way towards the kitchen. As he walked by, he peered in just to make sure that the kids had at least 5 feet between them. However, what caught his eye was a white tennis racket laying on the chair. He furrowed his brow. Sora had been here?

"Hey Matt, didn't know you played" Tai pointed to the racket.

"Oh" Matt chuckled when he saw it. "No, that's Sora's. She stopped by for a bit before. She must've left it here."

"How come?" Tai asked curiously

"Oh... no reason." Matt started walking towards the kitcen again. "So you like mashed potatoes, right?"

"Er... yeah.." Tai replied halfheartdly. He sat down as Matt pulled out a chair across from him. "Hi Mr. Ishida" Tai waved when he saw the middle-aged man at the stove.

"Hey Tai, how ya been?" Mr. Ishida grinned.

"Been alright.." Tai looked down at his empty plate. He suddenly didn't have an appetite.

"You okay?" Matt looked at him concerned.

"Oh, yeah, fine. Just got a little tired there. Long day at school."

"I see." Matt replied.

The two boys sat there in silence until dinner was ready. T.K and Kari came running in and sat next to their respective siblings as Mr. Ishida took his place at the head of the table.

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Sora walked into her apartment and threw her school bag in the closet.

"Mom! I'm home!" Sora yell echoed through her spacious, yet empty home. 'That's weird...' Sora thought to herself. She glanced up at the clock which said 8:15. 'The flower shop closes at 7.. Must be out running errands or something.'

The auburn haired girl went to the kitchen to prepare some dinner for herself. What would she have tonight? She went through some options in her head, but stopped when she noticed she had a message waiting on the phone.

She checked the caller I.D. It read the name of her father, Hiroshi Takenouchi. Sora smiled to herself. Rarely did she hear from her father. He cared about her, alright, but he had a weird way of showing it.

_"Hey Sora. It's your father here. How've you been kiddo? I've missed you. The project was a success! You can let your erm.. mother know, that the check is on the way. But anyways, I'd like you to come and check out the new building. All my new employees want to meet my favorite daughter. Call back soon. I love you baby girl."_

Click. The recording was over. That was one voice she didn't hear too often and when she did, it was for too short of a time. Hmm. Check out the new building? Sora honestly didn't have any idea what the 'project' was. Her father had a way of forgetting what he told her and what he didn't. Maybe he expanded the business again..

Sora returned to the fridge and rummaged through it until she found something good to eat. She ended up making herself a simple sandwich, but delicious none-the-less. She was about to take her first bite, when the phone rang. Sora grunted, slapped her sandwich down on the plate, and walked over to pick it up.

"Hello?" Sora said, trying to sound as polite as possible

"Hey Sora, it's Matt."

"Oh, hey Matt, what's up?" Sora twirled the phone cord through her fingers.

"Not much, but hey, listen, we might have a problem."

"What?" Sora was intently listening now.

"I think Tai is getting suspicious.."

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Hi guys! It's been at LEAST 3 years since I've written anything on here, so I hope this was alright. Let me know how you liked it =]. I hate writing things at the beginning of a story, so my disclaimer for every chapter is here. I DON'T OWN ANY OF THIS. =D. Alright. Talk to you soon, guys.

Surflilu


	2. The Man in the Shadows

_The first deed had been done. A dark man made his way down the abandoned streets of the city. His plan was brilliant. Nothing could stop him. He smirked to himself as he came closer and closer to the building he desired. Lightly, he touched his pocket, to make sure what he needed was still there. Against his large, rough hand, he felt something metal moving around. Once again, he smiled, as he turned and made his way up the steps. He pushed open the door and came to an officer sitting at the front desk._

_"Good evening sir, how can I help you?" The uniformed man asked._

_"How many officers do you have employed here?" The mysterious man grimaced._

_"Four, sir."_

_"You're Officer Hideki, yes?" He glannced at the sitting man's badge. "And what are the other's names?"_

_"Why do you need to know?" The officer tapped his fingers against the wooden table."_

_"I think it'd be best if you just let me ask the questions." The man lightly slapped his hand against his pocket._

_To that, the officer reached his hand towards his own gun._

_"Not a good idea." The man laughed as he pulled his out first. "What are their names?"_

_The officer stumbled and quickly put his hands up. "Er...er.. Deklyn, Yosh, and Malcolm."_

_The man let an annoyed look appear on his face. "Last names?"_

_The officer paused for a minute and looked at the door, as if he was trying to figure out a way to escape._

_"Answer me!" The man shouted._

_The officer froze once again. "Agata, Mizino, and Ishida."_

_"Excellent." The man smiled evily. 'And they're all working here tonight?"_

_The officer simply nodded, beads of sweat were beginning to trickle down his forehead. _

_"Beautiful." And with that, the man pulled the trigger._

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"Are you serious?" Sora questioned nervously. "He can't find out, it would ruin everything!"

"I know" Matt agreed, nodding his head as if she could see him.

"How did he catch on?" Sora asked.

"He came over today, and he saw your tennis racket, you left it here." Matt simply stated

"Ah, I'm an idiot." Sora put her hand to her forhead and collapsed down in a nearby chair.

"No you're not." Matt chuckled. "Honestly, you're a genius for coming up with this plan. Don't worry, anyways. We only have to hide it for a couple more days."

"You're right." Sora stood back up again. "Well, look, I've got to go, I just made dinner and all, but thanks for telling me, I'll make sure Tai doesn't find out. Could I come by tomorrow to pick up my racket?"

"Of course." Matt said. "No problem. I'll talk to you later. See ya."

With that, Sora hung up the phone and returned to her sandwich. After taking a couple bites, she glanced up at the clock again. 9:05. It was unlike her mother to be so late.. What could she possibly be out doing? The auburn haired girl took the final bite of her dinner and put her plate in the sink. 'I guess I should just go to bed. I'm sure Mom wouldn't want me waiting up on a school night.'

Sora shut the lights out in the main room. The only light came from the bathroom she was now in, and the flashing red light of the answering machine. She closed and locked the bathroom door and turned on the steaming shower. While she waited for the water to warm up, she examined herself in the mirror. It certainly looked like she'd had a rough day. Her hair was frizzed and had lost the little curls on the end. Her makeup was smeared and her clothes were wrinkled. Had she really walked around like this all day? The girl sighed to herself before undressing and stepping into the warm water. It felt like a massage on her tired back. She turned around and put her face under the water, rubbing it to get all of the makeup off. Suddenly, a noise made her stop.

"Mom?" Sora asked as she stuck her head out of the shower curtain. The girl got no reply. 'Hmm.. That's weird. Must not have heard me.' She thought to herself and returned to her shower. A few minutes later, she heard the same noise again. It was a creak, like the opening of a door. Sora stuck her head outside the shower curtain again to take another listen. All was silent in the house. Once again, she returned to shampooing her hair. The only other person to have a key to her apartment was her mother, so if it wasn't her, no one came in in the first place. It was probably just a neighbor's door anyways.

The girl spent the rest of her shower reassuring herself. After she had turned off the water and stepped out into the steaming room, she threw a towel over her body. She rubbed a spot in the mirror and looked at herself again.

"Much better!" She smiled to herself. She pulled her wet hair back into a bun and walked over towards the door. She placed her hand on the doorknob, but froze. The girl didn't really know why, but her mind wouldn't let her move. All she could do was stare at the doorknob.

'Snap out of it, girl.' Sora thought to herself. 'Nothing's wrong.'

She twisted the handle and slowly opened the door. The main room was completley dark. The only light came from the bathroom. She flicked on the lights and dashed into her bedroom. As she got changed into her pajamas, her thoughts drifted back to her mother. Where was she? At least when she got back she'd be happy to know that her ex-husband was sending her more money. The flower shop didn't really bring in much, and with the job that Mr. Takenouchi had, he had more than enough money to spare. Her thoughts then drifted more to her father, and what had happened in the previous years. She remembered the day she found out about her parents divorce. That didn't really come as a suprise, but anyone would be upset if they had to watch their father angrily storm out of their house, never to return. She remembered when her father got a new girlfriend. She remembered the day her parents argued about it. And of course, she remembered the bittersweet look on her mothers face every time a check arrived in the mail. The numbers on the pieces of paper only got bigger and bigger as her father's business grew and grew. He was quite the working man. Sora smiled to herself as she crawled under the covers. She let her thoughts take her to sleep.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Sora's friends slept soundly. Tai was asleep with a full stomach but restless thoughts. Kari and T.K were together in their dreams. Matt dreamt about becoming famous. Izzy was probably huddled up to his computer, and Mimi to her hairdye in New York. Joe was the only one who remained awake. He piled his papers into neat little stacks and pushed his hair out of his face.

'Almost done..' He thought to himself. 'Guess I've earned myself a little break.' He broke open a bag of chips and turned on the television. He flicked it from late night sitcoms, to talk shows, until he finally stopped at the news.

'Something educational.' Joe laughed to himself as he kicked back to watch. They were talking about some fastfood restaurant.

"Huh." Joe said outloud. "Probably... American." He chuckled a little bit, but then something strange came on. Joe leaned in closer to the television.

_"Approxomatly 2 hours ago, the Odaiba police station was attacked. Three police officers were found dead at the scene. One is currently missing. They were all on the night shift. If anyone has any information leading to the killer, please call our emergency hotline. The officers were sadly all young, and they all had families. Back to you."_

Joe leaned back in disbelief. The police were dead? All of them? Who could have managed to kill every single police officer in the city? Well.. except for one, he supposed.

"SHIT." Joe jumped up from his chair and ran to the telephone. Matt's dad worked at the station! He quickly dialed the boys number and waited anxiously for him to pick up the phone. How much he hoped that Matt's dad was the one who was missing. At least there'd be some hope left.

"Hello?" A groggy voice said into the phone.

"Matt! It's Joe! Listen, have you been watching the news?"

"No.." The blonde haired boy replied as he rolled over in bed. "It's 1 in the morning Joe, why would I be watching the news?

"I don't know" Joe got nervous about what he needed to say. "But you probably should. Listen, turn on channel 5, the police station's been attacked!"

"What?!" Matt shot up out of bed and rushed to the television. He turned on the channel Joe told him to, which showed a birds-eye view of the station.

"3 dead, 1 missing..." Matt whispered into the phone. "This is unbelievable.." He choked back tears. "Listen, Joe, I need to go."

"Alright." Joe solemly replied. "I'm here, if you need anything. I'm so sorry."

"Yeah." Matt answered and hung up. Shakily, he left the room, and walked towards where T.K slept.

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HA! Another chapter, finished! *Cracks knuckles*. Hope you all liked it lol. I'll get the next chapter out as soon as possible! Reviews greatly appreciated =)

**Light-of-Hope-07**- Thank you for being my first reviewer! Hope this chapter intrigued you just as much =P.

surflilu.


	3. A Twisted Suprise

Hello! Surflilu here. Just a warning, towards the end of the chapter, it may be a little more graphic than the rest of the story. Not exactly sure if it's 'M' worthy, so I think a warning will suffice. Now, onto the fic!

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He turned to the three men standing with him. He scoffed as he threw backpacks at each of them.

"You know what to do." He growled as the three other mysterious figures dashed as quickly as they could out of the room.

The man sat down at his desk and twirled a pen through his fingers. A small part of his plan had not gone as expected, but it was alright. The matter could be taken care of. First, however, he needed to catch the bait. He stood up and walked to a door at the back of the room. He opened it and walked in. The dark room smelled like rotting wood and spoiled food.

"Still not eating, I see? That's no good." The man smirked.

The person to which he spoke simply looked at the ground.

"Get up," He barked. "I have something you need to do."

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"What's going on Matt?" T.K asked lazily as he lifted himself out of bed.

Matt looked down at the floor as he explained to his younger brother what had happened. T.K's eyes were opened wide as tears started to form in the corners.

"He's the one missing? Right Matt?" The blonde looked up at his older brother.

"Yeah." Matt gave a sad smile. He looked at T.K, and all he could see was his baby brother. He remembered how when they were little, T.K would give Matt the same look when he was hurt, or when he needed help, and Matt would always be there. "Of course he is."

T.K walked out of his room into the foyer.

"Where are you going?" Matt asked as the younger Ishida threw his jacket at him.

"To look for him." T.K smirked. "I know Dad's alright, but he needs help. You in?"

Matt stared at the brown jacket that lay limp in his hands. "Course, let's go!"

The brothers ran together down the stairs of their apartment building. They burst through the door and out into the cold, dark night. The only light they had was provided by the few lights in the homes of people still awake. The streetlights had dimmed and the roads were abandoned. The Ishida boys picked up their pace once they realized no one would be in their way. They sprinted around corners and swang around street signs. T.K was beginning to slow down when they finally reached the station. Newscasters and police from neighboring towns had the building surrounded. Matt and T.K stayed out of sight. The hid in the shadows of the building next door as they looked over the scene. Bodies were being removed from the station. Each one was covered by a white blanket and was strapped down onto a bodyboard. Their heads bobbled around lifelessly as the EMT's took them carelessly to the ambulances. Matt clenched a fist as he wondered if one of those disrespected bodies was his fathers. Ambulance after ambulance left and the newscasters rolled out. Everything was silent.

T.K stared on for a second longer before he turned to face his brother.

"Mmph!"

"Matt!" T.K swirled around to find his brother held back by a blackened figure. The blonde was about to let out a scream when the shadowed man removed his hand form Matt's mouth and raised a finger to his own lips. "Shh! It's me!"

T.K gasped as Matt swung his own head around. "DAD!" The younger boy ran over and embraced his injured father in a deep hug. Matt looked on with a worried look on his face. "You...you're alive!"

"Did you think your old man was going down that easily?" The middle-aged man questioned.

"Of..of course not.." Matt gave a half-smile. His smile dissapeared once he saw his father's side. The left part of his shirt had been ripped and bloodied. "Dad! Look, you're bleeding!" The boy pointed out the mess as his father looked down.

"It's nothing. I only got skimmed." Mr. Ishida replied. He looked over at his station and frowned. "They're all gone."

"Yeah.." T.K replied. "The news reporters and everyone left."

"Not that, T.K." The man held back tears, not willing to let his sons see his sadness. "The officers. They're gone. I left them."

"Dad you did what you had to." Matt butted in. "I'm sure if there was anything more you could have done you would have done it."

Mr. Ishida kicked a pebble on the ground. The movement of his hips caused him to cripple over in pain.

'Dad!" Matt cried. "Come on, we need to get you looked at, and I'm not taking no for an answer!"

"Matt you don't understand I can't be seen." Mr. Ishida looked at his son in complete seriousness.

Matt was taken aback. He glanced at T.K. The man continued. "This was not a random act of violence. Whoever attacked us tonight wanted us all dead. Once people find out where I am, they'll come back again. I don't know why they wanted the entire police force gone, but I know it's very important that we all remain safe. Just help me get home."

"Alright, dad.." Matt grabbed one of his fathers arms and hoisted it over his shoulder. T.K did the same.

"What happenned, Dad?" T.K finally got the courage to ask as soon as they had gotten far enough away from the building.

"I don't.... I don't know, son." Mr. Ishida struggled to say. "All I remember, I was sitting at my desk when all of a sudden I heard gunshots. Three of them rang through the halls of the station, each one making the hairs on my neck stand higher and higher. It clicked in my head that three shots were for three officers. I was next, and all I could think about was you guys."

Matt and T.K blushed a little. "Go on.." T.K said cautiously.

"Well.. I said to myself, 'The boys still need me.' I looked around my office and saw an open window which I began to climb out. I looked back when I heard my door open. The man in the mask shot at me, getting me in the side. I hopped out the window and ran... I ran away.."

The man began to let the tears fall out as the guilt rose in his heart.

"Dad, I told you before, if there was anything you could have done for the men, you would have done it. You didn't run. You and I both know you're not a runner dad." Matt tried to cheer his father up. It was hard for him to be upset right now, even though his dad was. He was alive and that's all Matt could ask for.

The two boys pushed open the door to their appartment and helped their father into bed.

"Can I at least wrap it for you?" T.K asked, pointing to the wound which was now covered in dry, brown blood.

"I supposse that would be a good idea." Mr. Ishida looked at the wound as well. "It's a bit bigger then I thought it was.."

"Alright, hold on." T.K ran into the bathroom to get gauze.

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Sora Takenouchi awoke the next morning to find her mother still gone.

'Maybe she just went to work early..' Sora thought as she got ready for school. She threw on some jeans and a bright red top. The whole time, she just kept trying to reassure herself. It wasn't like her mom to just leave, what could she be up to?

She walked out the door and headed to school. On the way, she met up with her poofy-haired best friend and his little sister.

"Hey Tai, hey Kari" She smiled brightly.

"Hey Sora!" They replied in unison.

"You know Tai, I think I'm gonna go on ahead and meet up with T.K." She gave Tai a little wink and picked up her pace.

"That was cute." Sora stuck her tongue out at Tai.

"Ha. Ha." His face turned bright red as he faced the ground, hopeing his hair would keep Sora from noticing the color change.

They walked in silence for a little bit, until Tai couldn't take it anymore. He felt more nauseous with each step he took.

"Sora, what's been up with you and Matt lately?"

"Wha..what?" Sora hesitated. What could she say?  
'I know something's up Sora, and as your uh.. as your best friend I want to know what."

"Tai.." The auburn haired girl started. She heard the school bell ring off in the distance and said a little thank you prayer. "Oh, Tai, the bell! I.. I should go, already have lots of late notices and I can't get anymore!" She shot a smile and laughed nervously.

"But.. but Sor-"

"Bye Tai!" And Sora was gone.

After she had turned a corner, she slowed to a walk again. She craddled her books close to her as the smile on her face dissapeared. She felt so bad for lying to Tai, but he'd appreciate that they kept it a secret. After all, he only had to wait one more day. With that final thought, she hurried into the school building. Luckily, she had her first class with Matt, so she could tell him what happened.

She sat down at her desk. After pulling out all the supplies she'd need for her class, she tapped Matt on the shoulder. He turned around. His desk was directly in front of hers, making it very easy to talk. His deep blue eyes gazed into hers. He was a very handsome boy, obviously, but he just wasn't Sora's type. This was odd, because all the girls at Odaiba high school were in love with the blonde rocker, but Sora prefered the brunettes. One brunette had been on her mind a lot lately, and that was Tai. She'd felt terrible for lying to him. She could see in his deep chocolate eyes that she hurt him everytime she did. Who knew throwing a suprise birthday party could be this difficult?

"Whats up?" Matt whispered to Sora.

"Matt, I feel really bad. Every time I talk to Tai, I think he thinks I'm covering something up." Sora could feel her skin turning pink.

"Well, we kind of are." Matt chuckled.

"Not that, Matt." The girl shot him a look, a look as in a 'He think's we hook up after school look'.

"Oh! Oh.. boy." Matt began to blush too. 'This could turn into an akward moment..' The boy thought to himself.

"What should I tell him?" Sora looked at Matt with concern running across her face.

"I'm not sure.." The boy thought for a second. "Alright, what if we moved the party up to today?"

"Are you serious?" Sora asked. "Everyone thinks it's tomorrow!"

"Well," Matt replied, "We could tell them the date is changed."

Sora stared at him for a second, taken aback by his oversimplification of the situation. "And what if people can't come then?"

"Then they don't come. Either way, there will be tons of people there." Matt smirked.

"Alright." A smile of relief spread over Sora's face.

"Oh, there's one more thing I need to ask you."

Sora looked up at the boy with a curious look. "Yeah?"

"Could we do the party at your house? See.. my dad, he's uh, he's sick. I don't think he'd want 50 kids running around."

"Sure, I guess so." Sora replied. "My mom probably won't be home anyway.."

"Doesn't she get off work at seven?" Matt asked.

"Yeah, but, I haven't seen her home recently. I don't even know if she's been home.. I thought I heard her come in when I was in the shower, but when I got out, no one was there."

Thoughts of Sora in the shower quickly rushed through Matt's head. 'No, no Matt, no.' He thought to himself. 'This is not the time to be a normal teenage boy.' Sora stared at him.

"Well," He answered, "Maybe she's just been busy lately. Errands, or shopping, or uh.. boyfriends?"

"I don't think so." Sora returned to her work at the table. 'Or has she found someone?' She thought.

That couldn't be possible, Sora's mom would have told her. Why would she keep something like that a secret? What was wrong? Sora pushed these thoughts out of her mind and began to think of what she would tell Tai to get him to come over today. He probably wouldn't want to see her after the way she ran off before. Unless... She told him that her and Matt needed to talk to him. Cruel, but effective.

After school had ended, Sora and Matt began rushing around, telling everyone to pass on the word that the party had changed to today at Sora's. Then, they ran into Tai.

"Oh... Hey.." Tai waved shyly and blushed.

"Hey Tai.." Sora said back nervously. Matt stood behind her, his blue eyes staring over Tai's shoulder.

'Thanks for the held Matt..' Sora thought to herself before she spoke. "Tai, listen, we need to talk to you later. Can you come to my house around 7?"

"Oh.." Tai's stomache not only sank, but it hit the floor. "Sure I guess.. I'll be there."

"Alright good. See you then Tai." Sora walked away with Matt before Tai could get out another hurt word.

Sora turned around and looked at him walk away. He looked so... good. His tan legs flexed with each step he took, showing off the beautiful muscles he acquired from soccer. His hair moved perfectly, and oh, that cute little butt.

"Staring, Sora?" Matt interrupted her thoughts.

"Oh, no! Of course not Matt!" Sora couldn't help but smile though.

"Why are you hiding it?" Matt asked.

"Hiding what?" Sora smiled up at him innocently and scratched the back of her head.

"I'm not that stupid, Sor." Matt smirked. "Hiding the fact that you like him, because if you haven't noticed, he likes you too."

"But I, er, I.. He likes me? How can you tell?" Sora pulled him over onto the side of the hallway.

"Come on Sora." Matt raised an eyebrow. "Haven't you seen the way he looks at you? He looks like he'd do anything for you, or to you, whichever you prefer, I guess."

Sora punched him in the arm. "Not funny, Matt." She turned around to walk away, but suddenly turned back. "You really think he likes me?"

Matt smiled at her. "Yeah, I do."

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Sora walked back to her appartment. She wasn't suprised to find the rooms empty. There was, however, a message on the machine waiting for her.

_"Sora, dear, my loving, loving daughter. I, I'm sorry I haven't been home, I've been very busy at work. I've been getting home late and leaving early, and-"_

Sora cut the message off short. So her mother had forgotten about her simply for work? How lovely. Sora took her school bag off and threw it onto the couch. 'I guess I should start getting ready for tonight.' She thought. Out from the bag, she pulled streamers and empty balloons and a giant sign that said 'Happy 18th Birthday Tai!'. The girl began hanging everything up. After, she got to work on the balloons. After blowing at least 50 up, her lungs craved air, so she decided to take a break. It would probably be best to begin getting herself ready, after all, she wanted to look nice for Tai. She walked into the bathroom and shut the door. Like usual, she glanced at herself in the mirror to inspect how she looked throughout the day. She ran her hands through her auburn hair, messing it up and making making the top layer all frizzy. Sora turned on the water and started to undress. Right as she was about to step in, though, she heard the doorbell ring. Sora froze, and waited to see if it would ring again. It did. Many, many times.

'Who could that be?' Sora thought as she hurried to get dressed. She threw on her jeans and messily buttoned up her shirt. Dashing out of the bathroom, she made it to the door before the visitor left. She looked out the peephole to see none other then- Tai.

"Shit." Sora muttered as she glanced in the room behind her. The birthday sign was clearly visible, and decorations were everywhere. Slowly, Sora creaked open the door.

"Hey, Tai.." She mutterred, showing as little of her face through the crack in the door as she could.

"Sora.." Tai said, trying to see what she was hiding. "What's.. what's wrong?"

"I thought you were coming at seven!" She exclaimed, accidentally opening the door a little more then she should have.

Tai glanced down at her. "Your, your shirt.. Matt's here, right?"

Sora looked down at her shirt herself. Several of the buttons were buttonned into the wrong holes, and others simply weren't buttonned at all. "NO Tai! That's not it at all! I'll, I'll explain all of this, just please come back at seven!"

"Yeah, whatever Sora." Tai looked at her, then dropped his eyes to the ground, refusing to look at her anymore. He turned and started walking back down the hallway.

"Tai please just promise you'll come back!" The girl shouted.

She recieved no answer.

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It was six now, and Matt and T.K were walking down the road towards Sora's building.

"You think Tai will be suprised?" T.K asked.

"Very. You have no idea." Matt laughed.

They reached the Takenouchi residence and knocked. Sora opened the door and showed them inside.

"Great job on the decorations, Sor!" Matt cheered.

"Thanks." Sora said blankly.

"What's wrong?" Matt asked.

"Nothing, just, Tai came by before-"

"He didn't see anything, did he?" Matt cut in.

"No! Not at all. That's the thing though, I wouldn't let him in. He thought you were here, and now I'm not sure if he's coming back.. He won't pick up his phone or anything."

Matt raised his eyebrows. "I'm sure he'll come. Knowing him, and knowing how much he likes you, he'll want to know exactly what's up."

"I think he already got the drift." Sora retorted.

"I think he'll still come. And if he doesn't, I'll call him, or Kari can call him." Matt brought his hands to her cheeks and forced her to smile.

At that, Sora laughed. "You're right. It'll be okay."

One by one, guests started to arrive. There was Mimi Tachikawa, Izzy Izumi, Joe Kido, Kari, and a lot of other people Sora really wasn't familiar with, but whom she had invited anyways, since they were Tai's friends and all.

"Alright everyone! It's 6:55 and the birthday boy will be here any minute!" Matt shouted into the crowd of at least 60 people. Sora's place was packed, literally. "Everyone, hide!"

People ducked behind couches and around corners. A few even stepped behind the curtains or out into the shadows of the balcony. Somehow, thankfully, everyone dissapeared, except, that is, for Sora and Matt, who stood in the hallway waiting under the sign.

"You really think he'll show?" Sora asked, concerned.

"I do." Matt nodded, and turned his attention back to the door.

Slowly, time passed, and still no Tai. Sora bit her lip, harder and harder with each passing minute. At seven, people started to get worried. At seven fifteen, people started to complain. Sora was about to find Kari when finally, the doorbell rang. Everyone grew silent and ducked back into their hiding spots.

A small smile appeared on Sora's face. "Come in!" She called.

In walked a poofy haired brunette boy. His face was very different from Sora and Matt's though. His was a look of sorrow, as he knew what was about to happen. At least, he thought he knew.

"Hey, guys. What, uh, what did you want to.. talk about..?" Tai asked, while his vision was raised to the ceiling, where he saw the sign. "Naw..." He said in utter disbelief.

"SUPRISE!" All his friends jumped out and screamed.

"You didn't!" Tai exclaimed. He jumped nearly five feet in the air from the adreneline rush.

"We did!" Sora smiled cheerfully. "This is why we've been so secretive!"

"Guys I, I had no idea!" Tai struggled to get out as friend after friend came and congratulated him. Finally, he reached Sora and Matt.

"Look man," Matt said, "I figured you'd show up in something less than decent, so I brought you a change of clothes to party in."

Tai looked at what Matt was wearing. "If you expect me to slip into those skinnier than normal jeans you can forget about it." He stuck his tongue out at the blonde boy.

"Well, I think they'd look good on you, and you don't want to hang around in sweats, do you?" Sora smirked at him.

Tai then looked at what the girl was wearing. She had on a simple black dress that fell on her mid-thigh. It was tight, but not too tight. It was strapless as well, which showed off her formed, toned shoulders. She also had on silver dangly earrings with a necklace to match. And that lipstick was just stunning.

"I guess I should change, as long as you think i'll look alright." he winked at Sora.

"I know you will" She laughed, and pointed him in the direction of her bedroom.

Tai began to walk towards it, not really wondering what the clothes he was going to wear would look like, but more what Sora's bedroom looked like. For as long as they'd been friends, he'd never been in it. He pushed open the door to a darkened room. He flicked on the lights and saw that they could go on dimmed or full. He set them on dimmed. Her bed was white and looked silky. The walls were a light blue and had pictures of her and her friends everywhere. Tennis and soccer trophies sat on her dresser along with a single picture frame. Tai smiled at the photo in it. It was of Sora and him as kids, right when they won this huge soccer championship. They had to be seven years old, at the most. He went back to her bed and saw an outfit laying out. To Tai's suprise, it wasn't very Matt-like. Or, at least, it wasn't as Matt-like as he'd expected. The jeans were skinnier than normal, but not too skinny, and the shirt was a simple black v-neck tee. Tai changed immedietly and went back out to the party. Music was playing now, and people were dancing. Tai saw Matt and Sora talking together, and began walking over towards them.

"Oh no, here he comes, Matt." Sora looked at him, nervous.

"Don't worry, Sora. Trust me, did you see the look on his face? There's no way he's mad at you! Honestly, just ask him to dance or something. You were worried you'd lost your chance before right?" Matt asked. Sora simply nodded. "Then go make sure you don't lose it again. I'm sure he'd love to dance with you. I mean, come on, it's his 18th birthday and a boy's got to have fun." He winked at Sora before he left her standing alone.

"So how do I look?" Tai asked the girl.

Sora looked him up and down. The jeans looked so good. And that shirt, it showed off just enough of his muscular chest. The color made him look so tan, too. Tai gave her a smirk when she didn't answer.

"I guess I look alright." He laughed. Sora looked up at him again and blushed.

"Yeah.. you.. you do." She could barely get out. She glanced at the other people on the dance floor, then at Matt, who was mouthing at her to get on with it.

"Would you... would you wanna..."

"Dance?" Tai finished. "Of course, Sora." He gave her a heart-melting smile and grabbed her hand. "Let's go."

The music was hip-hop. A little un-Japanese, if Sora had an opinion on it, but Tai liked it, so it didn't really matter. They walked hand in hand over to where everyone was dancing. Sora wondered what her mother would say if she walked in on 60 kids dancing like this, but she knew that she wasn't going to be home anytime soon.

Tai looked at her one more time. Sora never thought Tai would look at her like that. His eyes looked deep into hers and said that he wanted her. The smile on his face seemed to agree. Sora's stomach rushed with excitement. She wanted him too. They started dancing and Tai pulled her in close. He saw Matt out of the corner of his eye giving him a thumbs up, and it started to sink in. He was dancing with the girl of his dreams. Oh and she looked so good. He moved his arms down to her lower back and they rocked back and forth to the music. She wrapped her arms around his neck. Their faces were so close. Tai could feel Sora's breath on his neck and wanted nothing more than to kiss her. He stepped back and looked at her. "Come here for a second."

Sora looked at him curiously and followed him out onto the balcony. "What is it?"

"You know," He said, looking at her, "for the longest time, I've wanted to try something. I thought, though, that if I did, you'd probably never talk to me again." He stepped over closer to her.

Sora stared back at him, trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomache. They told her something amazing was about to happen. She only hoped they were right. Sora leaned back against the wall and looked up at him. He was coming closer and looking at her that way again. When he reached her, he put one arm over her sholder and against the wall, holding him up as he leaned in.

"I've just," he began, "I've just always wanted to know what it felt like to kiss the beautiful Sora Takenouchi." And with that, he pressed his lips against hers. He couldn't even think straight once she started kissing back. Tai put his hands on Sora's waist and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. The cool breeze swept through their hair as Sora ran her hands through Tai's. She then traced her finger down the back of his neck, making his hairs stand on end. She ran it down his back, and finally, stopped at his waist, where she placed her hands as well. Tai leaned back and looked her in the eyes. He wanted more. Sora simply wanted his shirt off. She looked inside towards the partying people. They could probably sneak by without anyone noticing..

Without saying a word, Sora grabbed Tai's hand. She led him back into the room and past all his friends. She didn't turn and look at him until they reached her bedroom.

"Just, uh, just for a second." She stuttered nervously. She wasn't sure if he wanted to go further.. that is, until he pushed the door open first and led her inside. Tai sat down on her bed, making the white silken sheets sink. Sora walked over and sat down next to him. They looked at each other for a second, taking the moment in. Then, Sora slipped her hands under his shirt and began to pull it off. His stomach was so muscular. Once it was in clear view, she couldn't stop staring. His abs were formed perfectly. The girl put her hands on his chest and pushed him down onto the bed. They kissed again; their lips moved exactly in unison. Cautiously, Tai ran his fingers along the bottom of her shirt, making sure she was okay with it. When Sora kissed him harder, he ran his hand up her shirt as well. Never in his life had he been so utterly happy.

Outside the room, the party was still going strong. It was nearly midnight, and Matt couldn't find Sora anywhere. When should he kick these people out of her house? As he searched for her, people began to leave, realizing the time themselves.

"Great time, man." People said to Matt as they walked past. "Where's the birthday boy?"

"Not sure. He's missing and so is.... Sora." Matt raised an eyebrow. He walked towards Sora's room and placed his hand on the knob. 'No, wait.' He thought to himself, as he knocked. 'Better idea.'

"Party's over!" He yelled inside. "Get out here man and say goodbye to your friends!" When he heard rustling inside the room, he walked away. Tai quickly stammered out with Sora following behind him.

"Great party, man, great party." "Happy birthday man!" "See ya!"

Tai waved and thanked all his friends as they left. Eventually, all that remained was their close circle. Kari and T.K cuddled on the couch while Joe and Izzy stood out on the balcony. Tai and Matt were talking in the kitchen and Mimi and Sora walked into her bedroom. The last four were probably having the same conversation.

"I want details!" Mimi squealed.

"Mimi it was, it was awesome." Sora smiled up at her from the bed. "I'll call you tomorrow and tell you the rest, but I really need some sleep."

"You'd better girl! Talk to you tomorrow." With that, Mimi called Izzy and Joe, and they left after wishing Tai their final happy birthdays.

"We should probably get going too, T.K" Matt said, hoping that the happy couple would seperate easily.

"Ah, alright Matt, I'm tired anyways." He turned to Kari. "Goodnight love." And he kissed her on the cheek.

Tai turned to Kari as well. "What did I said about kissing boys?" Tai teased.

"You should be one to talk, Tai." Kari retorted.

Tai felt his eye beginning to twitch. "Just wait outside for one second, will ya?"

"Sure Tai." She laughed and left.

Finally, Tai walked over towards Sora. "Thank you. Thanks for the party, thanks for all the gifts, thank you for the best birthday of my life.

Sora blushed heavily.

"You know," Tai continued, "You look so cute when you're embarassed." He smiled, leaned down, and kissed her softly on the cheek. "Goodnight, gorgeous."

Sora nearly collapsed. "Goodnight." She sighed as she fell onto the couch.

Tai and Kari argued playfully as they left the appartment. Little did they know, in the shadows of the stairwell, three pairs of eyes watched them.

_"That's not the girl, is it?"_

_"No, no, the one we want is older."_

The eyes watched them until they could no longer be seen down the hallway.

_"It's time."_

Sora could barely hold her head up. What a night. As tired as she was, she couldn't erase the grin from her face, and she couldn't make the butterflies in her stomach stop fluttering around. For so long she'd wanted Tai, and finally, he was hers. All hers. Her smile got bigger, but suddenly subsided when she saw the same blink on the message machine. Sora got up and remembered it was the message her mother had left her. Feeling guilty, she went back and listened to it again- without cutting it off.

_"Sora, dear, my loving, loving daughter. I, I'm sorry I haven't been home, I've been very busy at work. I've been getting home late and leaving early, and Sora I'm so sorry! Sora get out now! Leave the house run as far away as you can, they're coming! They're coming!!"_

"What?" Sora said outloud as her hands began to shake. Her mother's voice on the machine had turned to sobs. Then, another voice could be heard in the background. It was a gruff voice, the voice of a man. He shouted, and the message ended.

"Mom!" Sora shouted to the silence in her appartment. She picked up the phone and dialed the police. "Pick up pick up pick up." She mumbled to herself.

"Odaiba police station, what is the emergency?" A low voice said on the other line.

"I, I need to report a missing person." The girl cried into the phone.

"It's alright dear," The voice hissed. "What is your name?"

"Sora.. sir..." The girl was taken aback by the tone in which the man spoke.

"Oh, Sora Takenouchi?"

"How.. how did you know..?" She stepped back from the phone, as if the officer was in the room with her.

"I have my ways. But don't you worry. You'll be seeing your mother soon, the police should already be at your house." He laughed and hung up the phone.

Sora stood, frozen. Her whole body shook. She yelped when she heard a knock on the door.

"Police, open up!" A voice shouted from outside.

Sora stood, still frozen, not knowing what to do. It wasn't the police. She was going to open the door and a gang of men were going to come in and do God knows what. She crept over towards the wall and inched along it until she reached the door. As quietly as she could, she looked over into the peep-hole. She sighed with relief when she saw three men standing outside in uniform. She stood up straight and opened the door. "Thank God! I thought you were.. someone else."

"Well who else did you think we would be?" One of the officers asked. "We're here to help ma'am, now what is the problem?"

"My mother is missing!" The girl frantically explained.

"Since when?" The officers all looked at each other.

"Since about two-" Sora stopped when she saw one of the officer's badges. "Officer Ishida.." She said to the man. Suddenly, her face went up in fear. "You're not Malcolm Ishida!"

"Ah you're a smart one." The first officer laughed evily. Another officer came up from behind and grabbed her arms.

"You're not officers at all!" Sora cried.

"Are you stupid? Did you honestly, honestly think we were officers? Come on, we thought you would have figured it out when your mother had been gone for two days. What kind of a daughter are you?" Another officer mocked her.

"What.. what do you want. You're not going to.. kill me, are you?" Sora got up the guts to ask.

"If you shut up we won't kill you." An officer growled while the other's laughed in the background. "You're going to make us rich, baby."

"Don't call me baby!" Sora spat in the face of the man who had her arms.

"Not smart!" The man barked as he twisted her arms behind her. "I'll call you whatever I want. Now get this straight," He began as he started to tie her hands together. "We don't care what happens to you, but your father does. He'll pay a pretty fee to get you back, whether it be you, or your lifeless body, so I suggest you cooperate."

"I won't!" Sora screamed before one of the men covered her mouth.

"We'll make you cooperate then." The girl could smell his cigarette-stained breath too close to her face. He pulled a roll of duct tape out from his backpack and slapped it across her mouth. Tears formed in the sides of her eyes as she thought of all the things that could happen next.

"Not so strong now, are you?" he laughed as he struggled to tie her flailing legs. Once he got them, he turned to the other two men, who were searching the house for money. "Will you two get over here?! We need to get her down to the car!"

"How?" The final man asked.

"Well... Um..Shit. You two, go look for a big case or something. Maybe a suitcase or a trunk. NOW." The two officers ran off, searching in closets and under beds.

The first man turned back to Sora. "You're a pretty little thing, aren't you? We wouldn't want such a pretty face getting brusied." He caressed the shaking girls cheek. As quickly and efficiently as she could, she scooched away from him.

"Nuh uh.." The man smirked at her as he stood up. "I told you to cooperate, but I guess I'll have to teach you how." He lifted his foot as Sora's eyes widened in panic. Pain shot through her stomach as he kicked her, leaving dirty footprints all over her dress. "Well now, we don't want such a beautiful dress getting dirty, either. Why don't you let me get that off for you." The man laughed again as he kneeled down next to her. "You know, you're perfect." He gave her a sly smile as he ran his hand over her stomach, pushing the dirt away. Sora glared at him, but her face reversed back to panic when she saw what the other men had with them when they returned. They dropped a giant trunk on the ground.

"Here, sir." They said, and pointed to the large box.

"Perfect." He said, and looked back at Sora, who was now crying on the ground. "We'll finish this another time, come on now." He picked up her struggling body and dropped her in the trunk. "Help me close it, you idiots!" He yelled at his fellow 'officers.' Together, the three of them shut the lid.

"She can breathe, right?" One of the men asked.

"Let's hope so." He snarled back. "Boss'll be mad if we bring'er back unconcious."

They hoisted the trunk up and carried it outside the appartment. Carefully, they carried the girl down the steps, past confused pedestrians, and into the parking lot. If they got any questions or looks about it, they merely said they were confinscating 'evidence.'

"This is perfect!" The lead man said gruffly. "No one suspected! No one ever suspects the police."

They walked out towards the edge of the lot, where a police car was parked by itself.

"Should we take her out?" One of the men questioned.

"Of course we should!" The one wearing the Ishida badge ordered. "What if she really couldn't breathe? The boss will have our heads!"

They opened the trunk and sighed with relief when they saw that she was still awake.

"Alright, in the car!" The first man barked as he threw her in. "Oscar, drive!"

"You got it, Lee." The second man, named Oscar, Sora suppossed, climbed into the driver's seat.

Lee, the first man, crawled in the back and put his arm around Sora as the third man got in the passenger seat. "We're going to have **so** much fun. More importantly, though, you're going to make us **SO** damn rich."

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What a chapter. I'm kind of proud of myself for that novel. Hopefully it earned some reviews! Lol.

**Light-of-Hope-07-** Yes, I switched the profession for the story lol. I laughed when I realized that Mr. Ishida really did work in a station. My bad =P. Hope you liked this chapter as well! Also, I was hoping you'd like the suprise coupling =P. Thank you for reviewing!

For everyone else, I'll get the next chapter out soon!

surflilu.


	4. A Name and a Face

_He tapped his fingers against the desk as he waited for the others to return. If they hadn't been successful, there would be hell to pay. He glanced out the window when he saw a car pull into the deserted parking lot. Watching intently, he counted the bodies that stumbled out of the car. Four. An evil smile appeared on his face. His teeth showed through his tightened lips and the rough skin on his cheeks pushed back. His eyes gleamed as his immaculate plan was completed, piece by piece. When the four figures outside had made it into the front door of the building, the man once again sat down and waited._

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Matt Ishida walked back into the room where his father slept. He'd only been home a few minutes now, but he was nervous about leaving his dad alone for so long, so he payed him a visit. When the boy walked in and saw the man soundly asleep, he stood there and watched over him for awhile. What a father he had..

"Matt, I'm making riceballs if you want some before you go to bed." T.K called from the kitchen.

The older blonde walked back into the hallway and closed the bedroom door softly. "Sure, thanks man." He took a seat at the counter and watched, amused, as T.K struggled to make the meal. "Here, let me help you out." Matt chuckled as he got up.

T.K moved out of the way as his brother took over. He laughed, "Oh, what, am I not a good enough cook for you?"

"You're worse then Dad" Matt teased back without taking his eyes off the food. "Go sit down, they're almost ready."

T.K took a spot at the table and was quickly joined by Matt. The smell of food made his grumbling stomach go haywire. He was about to take a large, unhuman sized bite, when Matt made him stop in his tracks.

"So how's Kari?"

'What?" T.K asked, halting his chopsticks right outside his mouth. He quickly took a bite and swallowed, looking at his brother again.

"How's Kari? You two have been together for a long time now."

"Yeah, I guess we have." T.K replied, still shocked that Matt was interested in his relationship. "It's been eight months. Eight wonderful months."

"Yeah?" Matt put down his utensils and looked at his brother seriously. "That's a long time. And you're still going strong?"

"Very." T.K smiled thinking about his perfect girl. "Kari's amazing. She's just.. I can't explain it. Whenever I see her it's like all my problems are gone. My face lights up when she comes around. She's beautiful."

Matt smiled too. "I'm glad you're happy, bro. Really. Sounds like you've found someone great. I'm proud of you for keeping yourself in a relationship! You really care about her, don't you?"

"Oh, I do! No doubt." T.K quickly responded. "If anything ever happened to her I'd be devastated. She's so innocent. I feel like I protect her from everything bad in the world. I love her." The boy looked down at his plate as he said the last three words. "I love her..."

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"I love her." Tai said to his sister on their walk home. "She's.. she's... oh my God."

"Sounds like someone had a little too much fun tonight." Kari teased as she hopped along beside her brother. She elbowed him in the side and he messed up her hair.

"No! I just got with the girl of my dreams! We're like.. well, what are we, do you think?" The boy stopped and looked at his sister.

"Well I'd say you're some sort of together." Kari laughed as she continued walking.

"You think?" Tai raised an eyebrow.

"Obviously!" She faced the boy. "She likes you, you like her. You kissed. The deal has been sealed. The two people who everyone thought were destined to be together are finally an item."

"An item?" Tai looked up at the sky and put his hands in his pockets.

"An item as in together." Kari stated.

"Together?" Tai asked again, beginning to become lost in his own thoughts.

"Yes, together." Kari was done trying to explain his own life to him. "Looks like someones in a little bit of shock.."

"A little bit." Tai still gazed up at the stars.

"I'm happy for you, Tai." the girl looked up at him and smiled.

He halted and looked down at her. "Thanks, sis."

When they got to their appartment, Tai collapsed on the couch, not wanting to move the ten extra feet into his and Kari's bedroom.

"Coming to bed anytime soon, Tai?" The girl called out as she got changed.

"Bed....couch....." Was the only reply she got. Laughing to herself, she crawled into her bottom bunk, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Tai, who remained out in the main room, fell asleep himself, that is, until the blaring of the television woke him up. He grumbled as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. "3:40 A.M..." He moaned to himself as he got up to turn the t.v off. The boy dragged his feet as he stumbled to the doorway. After he had crashed into the frame of the door, he made his way inside. Tai yawned as he looked up at the ladder he'd have to climb to get into bed. Deciding against it, he fell into Kari's bunk.

"What in the world?" Kari groaned when she felt a mass of hair land near her face. "Tai? What are you doing? Get in your own bed!"

"Too.... tired..." The boy mumbled.

Kari rolled towards him and nudged him in the shoulder. When she recieved no response, she pushed him harder. Still, the boy didn't move.

"Ugh." Kari scooched over in her bed and threw a pillow at her brother. 'Fine.. you can stay, just stay on your side, and I swear to God, if you snore once, you're out."

"Alright... best sister... ever...." Tai smiled as he rolled completley onto the bunk.

Kari smiled too, even if she wouldn't show it. "Goodnight."

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"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" A gruff voice said as a helpless girl was thrown down in front of him. He turned to his men. "Good work, for once. Now get out of my sight!"

Lee, Oscar, and the third man nearly ran out of the room. Sora took a second to look at her new surroundings. It was clear that she was in an office of sorts. The man in front of her stood before a large desk. The carpeting was brown and dirty, and the walls were dark. The single window was blocked with shades, but more importantly, everything was dead. Plants whithered on the windowsill and in the corners. Spoiled food could be smelled from a door, which Sora only noticed when she squinted her eyes in the darkness. "Who... who are you?" The girl glanced up at the man.

"Me?" He asked. "That is of no concern to you."

Sora was taken aback. His answer didn't have a hint of evil in it. His voice seemed almost normal. Without really consenting herself to, Sora trusted him more than the other three men. That is, until she tried to stand. She felt a blow across her face as she fell back to the ground.

"You do not move unless you are told to, understood?"

Sora laid motionless. Any hope she had of being treated civilly in this place had been wiped away. One wrong move could get her hurt..

The man looked down on her, thinking to himself for a second. "I suppose, since I so cleverly took you from your home, as well as your mother.." He paused, looking for a reaction in the girl's face. When he recieved no look but hatred, he continued. "you deserve to know who I am."

Sora didn't dare look at him. She found a stack of papers on the desk and began counting them, as if to help her escape from the madness.

"Look at me!" The man snarled, as he reached down to grab her chin. On instinct, Sora smacked his hand away. "Wrong move, bitch!" He kicked her in the stomach, and she rolled across the floor. "If you want to know anything about what is going to happen to you, you'll want to pay attention."

Sora brought herself up to a kneel and bent over, trying to aid the pain in her stomach. She mustered up the courage to look the man in the eyes, to at least see what he looked like. Unfortunatly, his face was covered in the shadows. No light was showing, except for the eerie glow of a computer screen.

"Was that a glare?" The man asked.

"No! No, it wasn't, no!" Sora pleaded as the man came closer. She braced herself for another strike, but he stopped in front of her.

"You're a feisty one, aren't you? I don't think I should take any chances." He circled behind her and smoothly grabbed both of her arms. He was stronger than Sora had expected. The man walked her over towards a chair and sat her down, easily controlling her squirming body. Without saying a word, he grabbed rope off the floor and tied her arms behind her to the chair. No matter what Sora tried, she couldn't move.

"Not so strong now, are you, Sora?" The man smirked as he lowered himself to her level. He put his face close to hers. "You know, I don't really like that name. What was your mother thinking when she named you?"

"My.. my father named me.." Sora moved her head to the side and looked towards the ground.

"Well then! All the more reason to change it." The man exclaimed

"Change it?" Sora looked back up at him.

"Change it." The man said again. Sora could feel his putrid breath on her face. The smell made her skin crawl. "You're in my world now, and let me tell you, my world is a very twisted place. You're now mine. I can do whatever I please, and since I don't like your name, I'm changing it. I'll call you Kura, and Kura, you belong solely to me."

"You're insane!" Sora belted out, only to recieve a slap across the face.

"You know what that name means, girl?" The man asked.

"Treasure House...." Sora replied in nothing more than a whisper.

"Very good. You're not as stupid as I thought." He took pleasure in seeing the look of deteste on his prisoner's face.

"You said you'd tell me who you are." Sora quickly changed the topic. Maybe she could get some information out of him.

"Right, be patient, Kura."

"Sora!" The girl said, a little bit louder than she should have. She recieved another slap on the face, increasing the size of the bruise that was already there.

"If you want to know about me, you'll cooperate. Knowledge is power, my dear." When there was only silence, he went on. "My name is Kozue. Don't let my workers mislead you, I'm a genius." Again, he looked at the girl to see if a look of disagreement appeared on her fragile face. Sora blankly stared. "I can outsmart you in every way. Whatever you think of, I've already thought. If you plan anything, I've already come up with a way to stop you. You are useless here, Kura." Kozue laughed when he saw the girls' lips quiver. "Look how strong you are now. No one is coming to find you. You don't mean anythng to anybody."

"Tai...." Sora whispered to herself.

Kozue glanced at her. "Speak up, girl."

"Nothing.." The girl shut her eyes tight to keep the tears from falling down.

"That's what I thought." And with that, the man left the room. Only then did Sora let herself fall apart.

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Yes! Another chapter, finished! THANK YOU to all who reviewed. I'm glad you're all enjoying this. I'll be sure to update soon. Untill then, reviews are greatly appreciated ^_^.

surflilu


	5. If You Walk Away, I'll Walk Away

**SOOOO sorry for the long delay in updating guys, but, school, work, volleyball, you know. The whole deal. But here's the next chapter! Hope you all enjoy [=**

_I hate this job, I hate this job. How does he think we can go over so many people's heads? His plan is genius, but it won't work. Shit. The phone.. Here goes nothing._

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Matt walked into first class the next morning and sat down in his usual seat. He was usually just on time for his classes, but today, he ended up there a bit earlier than usual. He was there almost alone, except for one girl studying in the corner, and another boy sleeping at a desk. The teacher at the front of the desk looked up from a stack of papers.

"Ishida?"

"Goodmorning Ma'am." Matt lightly smiled. Teachers weren't usually too fond of made them angry how Matt could slack off in class, yet still pull off getting perfect papers.

"Another A.." The teacher said reluctantly. "I don't know how you do it Ishida. You sleep your way through my class, you don't do your homework, you think you know it all, and you shouldn't. When are you going to put that knowledge you have to good use?"

Matt picked his head up from his desk. The girl in the corner was staring at him from behind her book, waiting for a clever and well, 'Matt-like' response. He glanced sideways at her. When their eyes locked, her cheeks flushed red and she hid behind her book again.

"I believe I put my knowledge to good use. I'm passing your class aren't I? I know all the information, what more is there?" he said.

"You sleep through everything. Do you think that knowing the information but sleeping through life will get you anywhere?" The teacher said while writing on another test. "You should be more like.. more like Izzy." She said. Without even looking up, she had taken notice to the red haired boy that had walked in the room. He appeared flustered. He messily carried his books in his arms as he tripped through the doorway.

"Matt! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"And who ever thought he'd be in here..." The teacher mumbled.

Matt looked up at her, then to the boy. He was out of breath. "What's wrong man?"

"I need some advice. Terribly. You see.." He stopped and looked over at the teacher who was curiously looking up at him. "You see.. we should probably continue this outside."

Matt rose from his seat and followed his friend into the hallway. The teacher looked back at her desk. "Humans are the most oblivious creatures.."

"What's wrong?" Matt asked with a quizical look on his face. "You look like you're about to throw up."

"No no! Nothing's wrong! Wrong? No! Nothing." The redhead scrathched the back of his head and searched around the room for something to stare at. Something different then the questioning blue eyes that Matt stared at him with. Maybe he was the wrong person to ask..

"Then what is it?" The boy asked, half believing that his friend wasn't upset about something.

Izzy stared at him for a second. "It's Mimi."

"Mimi??" Matt was a tad bit shocked. "What's wrong with Mimi?"

"Nothing's wrong! I just.. I need advice.. from someone, er, experienced with this type of this, I guess you could say." Izzy glanced up at him.

"Oh.... OH! Izzy! Izzy man!" Matt threw his arm over the redheads shoulders. "Did something happen? You and Mimi?? No way!!"

Izzy blushed madly. "Just let me explain! We.. we were walking to school and all and-"

"And you made a move!" Matt exclaimed, interrupting the jittering boy's story.

"NO!" Izzy burst out. "But.. I think I might have been supposed to?"

Matt leaned back against a locker. "Alright, tell me what happened."

The redhead took a big breath in. "We were walking home from school, and we we're talking and stuff. You know, it was normal. But then she stopped walking. I forget what I said to her. But I remember turning around to see what was wrong, and she was just standing there staring at me. And-"

"It would help if you remembered what you said to her" Matt interrupted once again.

"Ugh, I don't know. I think it was something about how she looked nice at Tai's party." Izzy said, not really paying attention to it.

"Well that makes more sense now. Okay, go on." Matt looked back at his friend.

Izzy inhaled again. "I turned around to look at her, and she just looked amazing. I never really noticed it before, but her hair was shining and she just looked at me in this way, and was biting her lip-"

"Izzy! That's like the international sign from a girl!" Matt jumped in.

"What?" Izzy raised an eyebrow.

"When a girl bites her lip and looks at you in that way, it means she wants you to kiss her! Did you kiss her?" Matt leaned in, clearly interested now.

"If you'd let me finish I'd tell you." Izzy paused, waiting to see if the blonde said anything. When he didn't, he went on. "So, she bit her lip, and I asked her what was wrong. Then, all of a sudden, she looked annoyed. She said nothing and left,"

"She wanted you to make a move, man. Wow, I didn't know Mimi felt that way." Matt put his hands behind his head.

"But, she doesn't! I mean, she's Mimi and I'm.. me." Izzy looked down at the floor.

"Well," Matt stepped forward, picking himself up from the wall, "Kiss her. You'll find out then if she likes you or not."

"Just kiss her!? Are you crazy!" Izzy flailed his hands in the air, receiving a few curious glances from the kids who walked by.

"Calm down! Look, it's easy, just-"

Izzy interrupted him. "Maybe easy for you. I'm sorry I'm not the tall, blonde, musician that every girl envies, in fact, I'm the exact opposite! Just kiss her? Are you mad!"

"Izzy! Jeeze.. didn't mean to set you off or anything.." Matt looked at him, wide-eyed. "What's wrong with you?"

"What?" Izzy stepped back, not realizing how angry he'd just gotten. "Nothing.. nothing's.. wrong.."

"Izzy, you can tell me. Really, I'm not gonna judge you or anything." The blonde stepped up, closer to his friend.

The red head flushed under Matt's curious shadow. "Alright." He said, "It's just.. I've never been kissed."

"Izzy…" Matt began, but was interrupted by the blaring bell.

"I have to go! I'll talk to you later!" Izzy quickly ran off, books and papers in hand. Matt was left standing there with the same look on his face before he wandered into his own classroom.

"Back?" The teacher looked up again. This time, the classroom was nearly full. He walked back to his seat, passing some kids he knew, and some kids he didn't. A few of them shot him knowing glances. They'd been at the party, and they still had that 'day after the party' connection. "Good time, Good time." A few of them said as he passed. He sat down in his seat and prepared all of his things. He took out his binder, pencils, everything he'd need for the class that he probably wouldn't be using anyways. As his teacher was waiting for the last few kids to stumble in, he turned around to talk to Sora. He spun around in his seat, prepared to make a racey comment about the previous night. However, she wasn't there.

'That's odd..' Matt thought to himself. 'Too much fun last night, maybe?' He turned back around in his seat. Without Sora, first period was going to be ten times more boring. However, he'd manage. First period ended, and second flew by. When it was time, he wandered into the cafeteria, looking for an open table. Quickly, though, he saw three boys waving to him from a table they had obviously been saving. He walked over to them, the members of his band. Rather, the band he was attempting to start.

"Whats up guys?" Matt asked casually, crashing on one of the benches.

"Long day?" One of the boys asked.

"Eh.. just kind of boring."

"Tell me about it." The boys grumbled together.

"Matt!"

The blonde boy turned around. "What?" He saw a massive poof of brown quickly walking towards him.

"Have you seen Sora?" Tai Kamiya sounded a bit exhasperated.

"No, I haven't. Sorry man." What was he? The go-to guy for girl troubles today?

"She wasn't in first period? She wasn't at her lunch table either.." A dissapointed feeling formed in the pit of Tai's stomach. How badly he wanted to see her today..

"Well, if she wasn't in first period, and she's not at lunch, then I'd say, she probably isn't here."

"You're a jackass, you know that, Matt? Listen, I called her before lunch, and she didn't pick up her cell phone. I called her house too to see if she was sick, but I got her machine. What if she's ignoring me?"

"Or what if she's trying to sleep, but her phone keeps going off?" Matt smirked at his friend jokingly.

"What if she is ignoring me!!" The brunette ignored his friends comment. "I left her a message.. You think she'd call me back right? If I left her a message?"

"I think you might be stalking her." Matt made his face become more serious, even though he wanted to burst out laughing. It was always a show when Tai was freaking out.

"It's not funny!" Tai could see right through his best friend's fake expression. "I don't want her to not like me.. You think last night was okay?"

"I'm sure. Trust me, the whole time we were planning that whole party for you, she couldn't stop talking about you. 'What if Tai doesn't like me cause I'm lying to him, What if Tai doesn't like me?'" Matt tipped his head from side to side as he repeated each of Sora's usual questions.

"Really?" Tai let his shoulders ease up.

"Really. Now Jeeze dude, let me eat!" Matt sat down at his table and pulled out a bag from his backpack.

Tai turned and walked away, flipping his cell phone in his hand. He opened it and went through his contacts, stopping at the 'S''s. He smiled to himself, remembering the way he'd kissed his beautiful girl the night before. His beautiful girl? He was really going crazy. Smiling to himself, he flipped his phone closed again. Maybe Matt was right. She'd call him back when she woke up. Again, he felt at ease.

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However, today turned into tomorrow, and tomorrow turned into the day after that. Each day, Matt would walk into class after a Mimi talk with Izzy. The desk behind him would be empty, and Tai would ask him about her each day, growing more and more frantic. No calls had been returned, no Mimi's had been kissed, and Matt was about to rip his hair out.

"DON'T DO IT!" Kari cried as she walked along side her brother's friend. "I think every girl in this school would die a little on the inside."

"Then you might want to get your brother to go to Sora's house. Look, there he is now. I'll even go with him, just please, PLEASE. I haven't eaten lunch all week!" Matt clenched his fists in his blonde do, seeing if it would motivate Kari at all. She laughed a bit as she ran over to catch up with her brother. "Tai!"

"Hey, Kari." Tai smiled an uneasy smile. He looked a little more tired than usual. It'd been a rough week. Each day, he grew more and more anxious. Where was Sora? She really was ignoring him.. Even if she was home sick, she would have called him back by now if she really wanted to.

"Listen, Tai. Can you do me a favor? This.. this thing, I left it at Sora's house, and Matt said he'd accompany you to go get it for me." Kari looked up at him innocently, hopeing he'd fall for her terribly crafted lie.

"What thing?" Tai didn't let the slightest sign of amusement appear on his face.

"You know.. my thing.. my camera!" Kari smiled widely.

"Go get it yourself." Tai walked ahead of her again. "I'm not going, and tell Matt I'm not going either. The boy pointed behind him. He wasn't oblivious.

"Tai.." Matt caught up with them too. "Just come with me. Don't you want to know for sure?"

"Know for sure?" Tai's stomach sank. Any bit of hope he had left in him died with Matt's question. "Before, you were telling me that Sora definitley liked me, that the party wasn't a mistake. You said you knew for sure. Now, you want to take me to Sora's house to let her reject me?"

"Snap out of it!" Matt grabbed onto Tai's arm. "Listen, I'm sure she likes you. My God, she loves you! If you haven't noticed that in the past five years, then you're an idiot. I'm sure there's a good reason for why she isn't answering you, let's just go find out."

Tai looked at his friend for a second. "Maybe.." he shook his head. "No. She would have called. You go, tell me what she says about me." With that, he broke free of Matt's grasp, and began walking ahead once again.

The blonde looked at the younger Kamiya. At least now, they were both curious. Without Tai noticing, they scurried off to Sora's building. They speed-walked through the streets of Odaiba which were now busy with kids just let out of school. Roadside restaurants and café's were filled. Stores were being searched through. Other teenagers relaxed on sidewalk benches, in between the out of school and going home phase. Once the two reached Sora's building, they jolted up the stairs.

"Why does she have to live so far up.." Kari gasped, as she slowed to a walk.

"Good question." Matt slowed down with her. "Ugh.. only two more floors to go."

Once they reached her level, they walked even slower to regain their breath. It would look kind of strange if the two showed up on her door step looking like they'd just run a half a mile.

Kari looked at each door they walked by. '62….63….64…' "Here!" Kari knocked quietly on the door.

"She'll never hear that! Let a man take care of his." The blonde cracked his knuckles, inhaled deeply, and BOOM. With one hard knock, the door creeked open. "Sora..?"

"Should we go in?" Matt turned to Kari.

"I don't know. What does the 'man' think we should do?" Kari asked teasingly.

"Shh.." Matt put his finger over his lips as he glanced inside. "Something isn't right.." The boy pushed the door open farther and motioned for Kari to follow him. "Sora?" he called a little louder now. Kari did the same. They received no respone. Instead, they saw things all over the floor. The house still wasn't clean from the party. That was very unlike Sora, more importantly, that was very unlike Sora's mother. Together, the two scuffled through streamers and cups.

"Why was the door unlocked?"" Kari whispered, making sure to keep close to Matt. She was getting this eerie feeling. As they walked into the main room, they noticed a single blinking light. 17 messages. Both kids relaxed a little bit.

"..Should.. Should we listen to them?" Matt asked, thinking he already knew the answer.

"YES!" Kari leaped forward and pressed the play button.

_Hi Sora, It's Tai. I had a great time last night! I hope you did too, but where are you? Are you out sick? If you are I could bring your homework by and make sure you're okay and maybe make you soup or something.. I make a mean soup. No, I don't, that was a lie, but I would try just got you. So, anyways, call me back._

_Hi Sora, It's me again. Just making sure you're okay.. let me know soon about the homework alright?_

_Hey, I got your homework just in case. Call me back and tell me when you want me to bring it over._

_Are you mad at me? I thought the party was fun.. I'm sorry if anything happened that you didn't want to.._

_Sora, please call me back, I.. I… ugh. I don't know what to say. Please don't be mad at me. I care about you too much to let you be mad at me.._

_Sora, I'm sorry._

_"Sora, dear, my loving, loving daughter. I, I'm sorry I haven't been home, I've been very busy at work. I've been getting home late and leaving early, and Sora I'm so sorry! Sora get out now! Leave the house run as far away as you can, they're coming! They're coming!!"_

After the last message, Kari and Matt's whimsical looks dissapeared as quickly as they appeared with each previous message.

"What?!" Kari jumped back from the machine, as if it was going to attack her.

"Come on," Matt grabbed her arm, "We're getting out of here!"

They ran down into the parking lot, in view of other people.

"We have to call Tai!" Kari squealed.

"Forget Tai! We need to call the police!" Matt pulled out his phone, quickly thinking of his dad back home. He wondered for a second which one he should call, but figured the new police would arrive sooner than his crippled father would.

"Odaiba police, what is the emergency?" A voice solemly said on the other line

"There's an emergency! Someone's appartment has been broken into!" Matt yelped into the phone.

"Street name?"

Matt glanced around frantically for a sign. "Uh..Uh, Wikona Street!"

"..What's the number?"

"It's.. 64." Matt was taken aback by the lack of urgency in the officer's voice. "Are you coming?"

Voices mumbled in the background. "Yes, yes, we'll be right there."

Matt and Kari paced around the lot for a good twenty minutes before a police car pulled in. They swerved around the corner, seemingly trying to make up for lost time. Matt was already skeptical of the cops that were being sent. His father wouldn't have been so late..

When the car parked, Kari ran up to meet them. "Thank goodness you're here! This is terrible!"

"Yes, yes, we know," An officer cooly stated as he brushed by her. "Now, if you'll let us do our work here.."

"We want to stay until it's figured out." Matt stepped forward. "Our friend is missing."

"Your friend?" Another officer eyed Matt, then Kari. "You, aren't you a little young to be friends with h--, to be friends with someone involved in a crime?" The second officer averted the girls gaze as he quickly changed his sentence. "..It's a shame, young people these days.."

"Yeah.." Kari mumbled, looking up at the building. "See, it's the one with the open door."

"Yes, yes, we've got it." The first officer said again, motioning for the second officer to stop talking, and for the third one to not talk at all. "Now, scurry along, we haven't got all day to get the scene laid out."

The third officer stepped closer to the group, beginning to say something. However, the first officer cut him off. Matt glanced sideways at the third man. His eyes widened.

"Kari! We forgot!"

"Forgot what?" The girl looked at him, clearly confused.

"We forgot about dinner tonight! At my house! Remember, T.K was making us all dinner!"

"..He was?"

"Yes! How could you have forgotten? It's probably getting cold now, you should go fast. My house, right? Yeah, run there so he doesn't get worried, okay?"

"What are you tal-"

"Go!" The blonde gave the girl a nudge on the arm. He shot daggers at her once their gazes met.

"Oh.. alright.." She began to walk away.

"I said to run! I'm serious! He'll worry!"

Kari turned back once more before she picked up her pace. Matt sighed once he saw her turn the corner. The three officers looked at him skeptically. Matt looked back at them. "Well, aren't you going up?"

"Yeah, of course kid, we know how to do our job." The first officer said gruffly.

"Good, good." A bead of sweat dripped down the boy's back. "But wait, may I ask you a question, officer Ishida?"

The three officers continued walking away.

"Officer Ishida!"

One of the cops nudged the third one in the side. He finally turned around. "What do you want?"

Matt looked at him through slit eyes. "How did you get hired?"

"I believe that's my damn business kid, now scram!" He spun around once more and began walking with the other two men towards Sora's open appartment.

**surflilu**


	6. Show Yourself

Kari had just reached T.K's house. She sat in his front room out of breath, waiting for him to come back from the kitchen with water and something to eat. The look on his face when he opened the door was a confused one to say the least. After Kari had explained what happened to the boy, he clearly looked worried. He couldn't believe that Sora had been taken, but he had no idea what his brother was up to. Something was wrong, but neither of them knew what.

"Maybe we should go back to Sora's and see what happened.." T.K asked as he set the food down next to Kari.

"I don't know.." She replied. "Matt really wanted me to leave, he made me run all the way here."

"Then I'll go." T.K looked down at the ground as he spoke, not wanting to meet Kari's worried eyes. "He's my brother, I have to make sure everything's okay."

"T.K…"

"Don't worry Kari, it'll be fine." He put on a reassuring smile for her. When Kari lightly smiled back at him, he felt relieved. That is, until she spoke up again.

"I'm gonna go with you then."

T.K looked seriously at her. "Kari, you can't.. It's probably dangerous, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if anything happened to you, yet alone live at all."

Kari let a smile shine through, but quickly shook it off. She wasn't going to let him change her mind. She was a strong girl and she could handle whatever danger there was. "I'm going with you T.K, it's not up for discussion."

The boy thought for a second before agreeing to let her go with him. If they were going to go, it was probably better to go sooner than later, so the two cleaned up their food and went on their way.

X

Matt quietly tiptoed up the stairs after the three officers, or, non-officers. He wasn't sure what to refer to them now other than fakes. Why had that officer had his father's badge on? Could he have been involved in the murders? He had to be, how else could he have gotten it? The realization of how much trouble Matt could get himself into sank in more and more with each step.

When they reached Sora's floor, Matt hid himself in the stairwell while the three officers walked ahead. He figured it was best to let them get into the apartment before he snuck up and looked in the window. He grimaced to himself when he saw one of the men light a cigarette before he walked in. Matt felt like punching him in the face for being so disrespectful.

Once the door had been shut, he crept over and glanced into the tiny window that let him view straight down into the main room. There stood the one officer smoking, but where were the others? He could hear voices mumbling inside, so he was confident they were all there. He leaned against the door to try and hear their conversation, to try and get a lead on where Sora was. However, the boy could only faintly hear their voices through the metal.

_"How long do we have to stay here for?"_

_ "I don't know, long enough to get those damn kids off our backs."_

Hushed voices growled back and forth, but suddenly, they stopped. Matt pressed his ear closer against the door, trying to hear if they were coming out or not. When he heard footsteps, he was about to run away, but his reaction had been too slow. The door had been opened, and Matt fell face first into the front entry of Sora's apartment. The three men looked at each other in disgust.

"Well well well, what do we have here? A little Ishida?" The men smirked at each other as one of them bent down and grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt.

"What are you talking about?" Matt asked, realizing the danger that would come too him if they realized officer Ishida was his father. "I don't know any Ishidas."

"We're not stupid, kid," one of the men spat, "now get inside!"

Matt was dragged inside, and the door was shut. He looked around once the guard dropped him in the middle of the main room floor. The third guard was there. He let his cigarette fall to the ground and quickly stomped it out with his foot. "Caught a little spy, have we?" He asked, stepping forward towards the boy. "It's time we've stolen some of _your_ information."

Matt went to stand up, but he was quickly subdued by the other two men. "You're not going anywhere." One growled into his ear. They each grabbed one of his arms and held him in place. The third man bent down and put his face near his. Matt nearly choked from the smell of his breath. It was rotten with the smell of smoke. His stench made his eyes water. He squinted them as much as he could without losing sight of the bastard. "Where's Sora?" He managed to get out while still struggling to get free of the guards' grips.

"Where's your father?" The man slyly asked in return. An evil smirk spread across his face as he saw the look of resentment that grew on Matt's.

"My father's dead." The boy replied quickly, refusing to look his captor in the eye.

The man leaned down closer to Matt's face and put his hand roughly on his shoulder. "No he's not. I know he's not. Now you're gonna tell me where he is."

"I told you, he's dead." Matt repeated.

The man moved back and stood up straight. He sighed and clucked his tongue in annoyance. "Listen, Ishida." He began, "I know your father's not dead, but I can guarantee you, that if you don't tell me where he is, your brother will be."

With that, Matt threw his head up. He thrashed around in the guards' grips and eventually managed to throw one of them off. He stood up with the other one still hanging onto his arm. "To get my brother you'll have to go through me." He growled through clenched teeth. He cracked his knuckles. "I promise you, it won't be easy."

"Shut up, boy." The guard snapped as the other one grabbed back onto Matt's other arm. "I'm not fighting with you. I have other priorities, but I'm warning you, if you don't tell me where your father is, your bro-"

_Creaaakkk._

The guard stopped speaking and looked down the hall. Matt pushed himself off the other two guards, who were frozen themselves. He looked towards the door, which was creaking back and forth as if someone had just pushed it. A lump formed in his throat as the seconds pushed on. All was silent except for the swinging or the screened entrance. Footsteps soon joined that sound though, as the guard who was interrogating Matt started moving forward. He moved quickly, yet cautiously. As he passed the other two guards, he motioned for them to keep themselves and their hostage quiet. Matt's eyes widened as he saw something out of the corner of his eye, something he hoped he had only imagined. However, he saw it again, and his stomach churned with a nauseous feeling he'd never felt before. Through the crack in between the door and the wall, Matt could see pieces of blond hair which belonged to an owner who didn't realize what was coming. The boy opened his mouth and breathed in cold air, trying to form the right warning. However, a sweaty hand was slapped against his lower face before he could get the words out.

"Shut up!" His captor whispered raspily as his partner moved down the hall. With fear in his eyes, Matt hopelessly watched the guard approach the door. He struggled to move, but he couldn't break the increased grip of the two men holding him back, keeping him quiet. He sat there helpless with a blank mind, trying to keep out the thought that endlessly shoved themselves into his thoughts. _'Get out, T.K'_

In a matter of seconds, the man reached the door and quietly, yet suddenly, pulled his gun out and swung around the corner. He aimed it near the floor where Matt had seen the whisps of hair. A chill ran down his spine and time went slowly. He watched helplessly as the man cocked his gun and shot. The grunt of a young boy and the shrill scream of a girl echoed across the now dim sky. Matt flailed about to free himself. He wouldn't let these bastards hurt the ones he loved. He kicked and moaned and pushed himself off until he tired himself out. By that time, however, the man had begun yelling at whoever he'd shot at.

"Next time it'll be your ears, bitch!" He shrieked as he motioned the two inside with the gun. "Go, get next to him, on the ground."

Matt let out a sigh of relief, yet also a sigh of disappointment. He'd been happy his brother wasn't shot, yet he wished it was never his brother at all. And what was Kari doing here? The boy watched as Kari threw an open cell phone near the entrance of the door before she was hustled inside. She looked back at it, perhaps to make sure it was still open, before she gave into the man's violent pushing. When the guard roughly touched her back to make her move faster, T.K swung around and tried to punch the man. However, his move backfired. The guard grabbed the young boy's wrist and threw him to the ground. Kari pounded on the guards back, trying to stay clear of the nozzle of his gun. Her attack seemed to have no effect; the man effortlessly shoved her off and raised his foot to the boy, giving him one hard kick to the stomach. T.K surged with pain, a pain that Matt shared. The older boy's head pulsed with rage and hurt and desperateness. An animal-like rage came upon him, and he threw the two men off. He ripped his arms from their grips as they both stumbled backwards. They tried to recover, but by the time they did, Matt was already on his way towards his brother. He pounded across the floor, ready to do whatever it took to show that bastard that it was impossible mess with T.K and not suffer the consequences. The shocked guard gave him an opportunity to strike, and he did: Yamato threw his clenched fist into the side of his face, sending him rearing backwards. Yamato did it again, and again, and again, drawing more blood each time his hand impacted. The guard's limbs felt weightless as they jerked with each hit; they flailed and flailed about until finally, the gun came loose from his hand.

Matt stopped attacking. The guard stood still. The seconds seemed endless as the two looked from each other, to the foot of the door. Before he could think, Matt was pushed against the wall. The guard lunged forward, but was stopped by Matt's foot. He tripped and fell to the ground as Matt scrambled to get up. The boy dove as far as he could, desperately trying to reach the weapon, but the guard grabbed the back of his shirt, holding him back as he tried to reach it himself. They landed on the floor, their legs intertwined, holding each other down. Their arms stretched out as far as they could until both their limbs' shook. Matt grunted; the guard yelled. A bead of sweat dripped down Matt's back as he made one final stretch. He lifted his chest from the ground despite the immense pressure the guard was putting on him. He raised his arm, preparing to dive, even if it ripped his body in two. T.K watched from the ground in anguish. Kari clasped her hand over her mouth as the two other guards ran towards them, preparing to rip Matt away and show them utter defeat. However, they would get no such chance; at least, not yet. Right before Matt could reach the gun, he watched a heavy foot come down upon it and pull it away. A dark figure stood in the open doorway. He looked down at the two men struggling on the ground, making sure neither of them could get their grubby hands on what he'd taken away. The man leaned down and picked up the weapon, putting it safely in his pocket. Once that had been done, he leaned down again. He picked up the open cell phone that was lay on the ground near his feet. Kari gasped as she put the pieces together.

"Tai..?" She whispered, just audibly enough for the man at the other end of the hall to hear. She got no response. Instead, the man held the phone up near his chest to look at the call that was still going on. Tai Kamiya, it read on the screen, 29 minutes. He'd been later than he'd hoped to be, but it seemed he was still in time. He shut the phone and let that too, fall into his pocket. Matt, still on the ground, watched as the man stepped into the apartment and let himself become illuminated in light. He pushed the hood from his sweatshirt down, revealing a head that was covered in long, brown hair. Matt smiled when his hopes were realized. Tai had possibly just saved his life. However, no smiled appeared on the boy's face. He looked over at his sister with worry, and then glared at her boyfriend for bringing her into such a situation. However, his angriest look of all was directed towards the guard on the floor.

Through clenched teeth, Tai growled, "Where's Sora."

X

"For the last time, where's your father!" A man growled before bringing his hand down across the young girl's face. Instead of creating a bruise, it only increased the one that was already there. The large red mark became darker and fuller in size. The girl would have clenched her cheek in pain, but her arms were tied roughly behind her back. Each time she tried to move them, the ropes would dig into her skin, causing a painful burn to appear.

"I don't know where he is!" The girl desperately cried while avoiding direct eye contact. Her captor didn't like that. He only enjoyed her looking at him when he forced her to. He liked control- a little too much.

The man slapped her again. "WHERE IS HE?"

"I don't know!" She hung her head as sobs escaped her eyes. She choked on her own breath, which she struggled to control. Her lungs heaved up and down, she'd had enough.

"Kura, I-" Kozue began, but he had no chance to finish. The girl reared her head back and spat in his face, hitting him directly in one of his iced-over eyes.

"My name is _Sora_!"

"Bitch!" He screamed as he slapped her again. "Dammit! I've had enough of you today." The man eyed her, forcing her to match his gaze. "I will find your father one way or another, and once I do, you can be sure I'll have no use for you anymore. When that day comes, just you wait."

With that, the man stormed out of his office. He slammed the door behind him, leaving the girl tied with her arms around the chair. Unable to get out, all she could do was think. What did Kozue want with her? What did he want with her father?

X

**Hey guys! So, I'm incredibly incredibly sorry for the wait! I know, it's been months! I've been sidetracked, but I promise, it won't happen again! Thanks to all the reviewers who got me motivated to finish this chapter. Without you guys, this wouldn't have gotten up when it did. So, thanks! Hope you enjoyed it!**

***surflilu.**


	7. Dark

The guards looked at each other, clueless as to what to do. Tai repeated, "Where is she."

The tone of his voice could chill even the most evil man's blood. He reached his hand in his pocket and pulled out the gun he'd just recently put in. Wasting no time, he pointed it at the first guard's head. "If you don't tell me where she is in three seconds, I swear to God I'll kill you."

"Okay!" He spoke, trying to remain calm. However, his facial expression told everyone in the room that he was very far from being calm. "We'll talk, won't we?" He turned the other men in the room. The man standing next to him nodded quickly, however, the man on the floor didn't move.

"Get up." Tai motioned towards him with the gun. "On the couch, all three of you."

Unwillingly, he picked himself up off the floor. However, before heading over to the couch, he brushed himself off and fixed his shirt. With his head high, he sat down next to his partners.

"Where is she." Tai demanded for the third time, walking over towards where they sat. Matt, TK, and Kari followed behind him, just as eager to hear. Matt stood close behind his friend, partly for support, and partly to make sure he didn't actually shoot anyone. The brown haired boy walked towards the first man, the one who had been on the floor. Once Tai stood in front of him, he turned so they were face to face. When the boy didn't receive an answer, he spoke up again.

"Tell me where she is."

Only now did Tai get a response, however, it wasn't the one he'd hoped for.

"I'd tell you where she is," he began, "but you'd probably interrupt our boss. You see, he hates being disturbed when he's having fun with his girl."

"Fuck you!" Tai yelled as he slapped the man across his face. What did he mean, 'his girl'? Sora was not anyone's girl besides his own. What could he possibly be doing? Tai's chest began to tighten and freeze inside him.

The guard smirked at him. "You think I'm kidding? We've spoken to her like you've never spoken to her before. We've seen her like _you_ _never_ have before."

Tai raised the gun in anger. "Shut up!" he yelled.

"Kill me, do it boy." The guard egged on. "I hope you have the guts to take a life. But just remember, killing me won't save your bitch."

A bead of sweat dripped down Tai's neck as the guard went on. However, his mind blanked. He struggled to hold the gun tightly, to remain as assertive as he had been before. He couldn't make himself seem week. Suddenly, without thinking, he pulled the trigger, allowing a bullet to release from the gun and shoot over the guard's right ear, just skimming the edge of his skin. The man grunted, Kari screamed. TK threw a protective arm around her and swung her around to face his chest. Matt ran up next to Tai, as if to yell at him for shooting the man, however, once he realized what he'd done, he didn't.

"THE OFFICE BUILDING ON 76th STREET!" A different guard shouted, shivering on the couch.

The first guard looked over towards him, annoyed. Drops of blood were spilling down from the tip of his ear, but it didn't seem to faze him at all. "I knew you didn't have it in you, kid." He coldly slit his eyes "But now I guess you know where she is, congratulations."

"What's the catch?" Tai asked, lowering the gun only slightly so the man could see his interest.

The guard let out a muffled laugh. "Huh. You're not as stupid as I thought. Catch is you need one of us with you. Without us, you'll never get inside the building."

"So then you're coming with me." Tai said hastily. "Let's go."

"Not so fast." The guard responded coolly. "You think I'd actually let you go with me? If I walk out of this room with you, you'll shoot my goddamn ear off."

"Well then, you'd better think of a way to get me to Sora, and you'd better make it fast." Tai growled, aiming the gun once again.

The guard rolled his eyes. "You might as well put that gun down, I know you don't have it in you to kill me. Now here, I'll make a deal with you. I promise to bring you to Sora, but I want those two to come with me." He pointed to TK and Kari. The girl was still wrapped in TK's arms, a little afraid, admittedly. However, when TK saw his long, gangly finger pointed at them, he squeezed her closer to him.

"They're not going with you!" Matt cut in.

Tai glared. "You can be damn sure of that."

"Well then, I suppose none of us are going." The guard smiled and looked straight into Tai's eyes, as if he was excited to see his reaction.

His reaction though, was the clicking of the gun.

"Shoot me, boy." The guard responded. "Come on, do it, send a bullet right through my head. Kill me."

Tai froze. He knew he couldn't do it, no matter how badly he wanted to- and he _really_ wanted to. The way he'd spoken about Sora made him angrier than he'd ever been before, however, he was still human; he could never take a life.

Finally, TK spoke up. "We'll go."

The first guard smiled. Tai flinched. Matt spun around on his heels. "You're insane! I'm not letting you go, TK!"

"Me neither." Tai concluded, turning his head just enough to see the guards and his sister. "You're not going, Kari."

"Why not?" The two younger kids seemed to say at the same time.

"Because I said you can't!" Tai growled. Matt stood next to him with a harsh look in his eyes. However, TK stepped forward.

"Matt, let me go. Come on, if it's the only way to get to Sora, we need to do it. We don't know what's happening to her."

Kari continued her boyfriend's speech. "Let me go too, Tai. I'm not a little girl anymore, and Sora needs our help. Trust us." She stared stubbornly into his eyes.

Tai tried to match her gaze, but his broke. The determination with which she looked at him made him drop his guard, his defense. "Fine." He finally said before turning to the three men on the couch. "But if anything, _anything_, happens to her, I won't hesitate with getting revenge."

Two of the guards gulped, however, the main one smiled. "It's planned then." He stood up, ignoring the gun in front of him. "Let's go, Kari and TK." He said their names with a certain attitude, one neither Tai nor Matt could make out. However, a sly look that appeared on his face made them both rethink their decisions. As the group of three walked out the door, Matt saw TK throw an arm over Kari's shoulders. They were strong, he knew, but how could he not worry?

"Hey Matt.." Tai said, pointing to the guards on the couch. "I have a bad feeling about this. Why don't you go find some rope?"

Matt quickly realized what Tai was planning. As his friend kept them at bay, Matt searched the house for what he needed. When he returned, he passed the long, tan bundle over to his friend. They smiled at each other as the guards shook with fear. How the tides had turned..

X

Kozue ran his old hand through the girls soft, auburn hair. "The plan's almost finished, dear." He snicked as he walked away from her, towards his desk.

"It'll never work!" she spat back, refusing to believe anything her captor said.

"Oh but it has so far.." The man snickered as he reached for the phone.

"Who are you calling?" Sora suddenly asked, struggling to see the phone from the chair she was tied to.

"Oh, no one important." Kozue sneered as he began dialing numbers. Once he heard ringing, he put the phone on speaker and placed it gently back down on the holster.

_"Hello?" _the voice on the other line said.

Before answering, Kozue looked back up at Sora and flashed her an evil grin. "Hello Mr. Takenouchi- we've found you."

Sora's eyes opened wide and her mouth hung open. She tried to cover her shocked expression with her bangs, but it was impossible to keep anything from Kozue. Somehow, he knew everything. The girl shut her mouth and looked at the ground to try and hide the tears that formed at the corner of her mouth. What did he want with her father?

"_Who are you?" _the familiar voice asked.

Kozue chuckled, but remained stern. "It doesn't matter who I am. What matters is that I have your wife and daughter."

Sora's head jolted up. He'd had her mother all along? Where was she? However, she remained silent; her mouth was glued shut.

_"What? I don't believe you. Who are you?"_ Her father repeated again.

"Well, then listen." Kozue walked over towards Sora, who still refused to look him in the eyes. "You ready, Takenouchi?" The man grabbed hold of Sora's hair and pulled it as hard as he could, yanking the girl's head backwards. Sora let out a shrill cry that completely satisfied Kozue; he walked back towards his desk with a smile of victory on his face.

_"Sora… Who are you? What have you done?!"_ Mr. Takenouchi cried from the other line.

Kozue picked the phone up, thus, turning it off speaker. He pressed it hard against his ear and looked back towards Sora. "Oh, don't worry, I haven't done anything- _yet. _You see though, you have something I want, and I have something you want. How about we make a deal?"

The only thing Sora could make out of her father's response were muffled words and begging cries. However, she could hear every word that Kozue purposely said loudly and powerfully. The girl's brain was beginning to go numb. She had too many questions, too many worries. Sora glanced around the room, trying to figure out where Kozue was keeping her mother. However, the only two doors in the room were the exit and the one that led to Sora's 'room'. Kozue must have noticed her frantically looking around, because he laughed when he looked back at her.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the man put the phone down and began to laugh hysterically. He clutched his stomach, leaned back, and roared.

"What's going on?!" Sora begged.

"Your father!" Kozue exclaimed, "He's an idiot!"

"Don't talk about him like that!" Sora yelled back. She could feel her hands begin to sweat against the rope.

However, Kozue ignored the girl's cry and walked towards the window. "If your father doesn't do what he's supposed to tomorrow night, you'll be as good as dead, girl."

Sora froze. She leaned forward in her chair as far as she could and felt her face grow cold. A bead of sweat formed on the back of her neck and slid down her spine, chilling every bone in her body. Her sweaty hands were now clammy and shook noticeably behind her back. "..What?" The girl struggled to say, fear clearly resonating through her voice.

However, Kozue abandoned his speech when he looked out the window towards the parking lot of the building. "Looks like we've got company.."

As if he was now in panic mode, Kozue silently grabbed Sora by her shoulders and ripped her up off the chair, leaving her hands tied. He threw her quickly in the room behind the door, shut it, and locked it. Once it was closed, Sora's questioning cries were only slight muffles. However, Kozue wasn't satisfied. "Shut up!" He barked as he shut the lights off in the room.

Sora pushed herself up against the door to hear what was going on outside, however, all she heard was the slamming of a door and then- nothing. The girl slid down against the wall and felt herself collapse against the cold, hard ground. Darkness surrounded her- there was no way out. The tears that had so diligently held themselves in the corners of her eyes began to trickle down her cheeks, leaving cold, wet stains on her face. If only her mother could hear her now.

X

"Is this it?" TK asked the guard as he led the group into the parking lot.

"Where are we?" Kari quietly asked him.

However, TK could give no response, he really had no idea. The boy looked around, they were clearly in some kind of business district, but the building in front of them looked dark and abandoned. The parking lot was empty as well- it seemed as if no one had ever parked there. The hairs on the back of TK's neck began to stand on edge, something wasn't right.

"Is this it?" TK repeated, asking more sternly this time.

The guard turned around, clearly looking annoyed. "If you're so curious, why don't you just look at the damn sign?"

TK turned to look at the sign in the parking lot, indeed, it said 76th street. However, the boy didn't have the chance to read the rest of the writing on it. He felt a fist collide with the back of his head and went tumbling towards the ground. He struggled to say something, anything, but he didn't have the chance before he felt the force again. The scene in front of him was fading to black; all he could hear were Kari's screams.

"Stop it! Stop it!" She cried, trying to pull the guard away. However, it clearly didn't work, because before TK knew it, the world went dark, and the screaming stopped.

X

Alright, another new chapter! Once again, I hope you all liked it. I have big, big plans for next chapter, so I promise to get it done soon! Reviews would be extremely awesome, and very motivating ^_^. Until next time, happy reading!

*surflilu.


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